The European Union Thursday offered six former Soviet states incentives worth EUR600 million to promote stronger energy and economic ties and democratic reforms.
The plan, called the Eastern Partnership, has inflamed E.U.-Russia tensions, with Moscow worried that the bloc is encroaching on its traditional turf.
The six countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine - meeting E.U. heads of state in Prague, gave the offer a mixed reception. The leaders of Belarus and Moldova, who have close ties to Moscow, didn't attend the meeting, sending deputies instead.